Maine State Police have a charged a Trenton man with murder in connection with the disappearance a year ago of an accountant who was never reported missing.

Richard Bellitieri, 60, of Trenton may have been missing for more than a year before skeletal remains found near his home at 318 Goose Cove Road were identified through dental records as his, said a state police statement.

Police charged William “Bill Tool” Morse, 43, with murder. He was arrested by agents of the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency in Holden. He is being held in Hancock County Jail.

Bellitieri was last seen alive in June 2012. Nobody reported him missing, but his disappearance was recently discovered by the Bar Harbor police, the statement said.

The case developed after a traffic stop in Bar Harbor during which Morse was charged with drunken driving, but police would provide no further details prior to Morse’s court appearance, scheduled for Friday.

The release didn’t shed light on a motive or means for the death.

PORTLAND

Man is charged after brandishing shotgun

Police charged a man with assault with a deadly weapon after he brandished a shotgun at his roommate in front of a duplex on Dartmouth Street on Thursday.

Seth Miller, 26, was taken into custody after police received reports of a fight between Miller and another man at 188 Dartmouth St.

Neighbors said they heard two men arguing in the garage of the duplex around 10 a.m. The argument escalated into a physical fight about 30 minutes later and moved to the front lawn, where Miller allegedly brandished a double-barrel shotgun, said police Lt. James Sweatt. During the altercation, Miller dropped the shotgun, and both men ran into the duplex, Sweatt said.

Police advised neighbors to stay indoors and away from windows while they called Miller and persuaded him to surrender around noon. He was then taken into custody.

No shots were fired, and there were no injuries.

The two men, who both live in the building, were arguing over rent money, Sweatt said.

“It appears Mr. Miller was trying to collect money,” Sweatt said.

No sign of crime in death of jail inmate, police say

Police say there were no signs of injury or any crime in the death of a Cumberland County Jail inmate Wednesday.

Karyn Victoria Kundishora-Nowlin, 30, of Portland had been under observation in the jail’s medical unit for seizures when a nurse checking her vital signs as part of routine medical rounds at 5:17 a.m. found she had very low blood pressure, according to a news release from the jail.

Medical staff performed CPR and summoned an ambulance. Rescue workers took over her care and brought Kundishora-Nowlin to nearby Maine Medical Center. The jail was notified of her death at 6:16 a.m.

The case is being investigated by the Portland Police Department as well as the internal affairs unit of the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office.

Such investigation is required by law whenever someone dies in custody.

An autopsy was done by the state Medical Examiner’s Office on Wednesday, but no results were available and more tests need to be done, police said.

Kundishora-Nowlin’s medical observation status meant that a corrections officer checked on her every 15 minutes, but did not check her vital signs, which is done by the medical staff.

SCARBOROUGH

Last-minute lane change causes crash on turnpike

A driver from New York who started to get off the Maine Turnpike at Exit 44 but changed his mind veered into a moving van during Thursday evening’s rush hour, police said.

The collision with the Toyota Sienna caused the 24-foot-long moving van to hit the center guardrail and spin sideways before sliding backward in the northbound lanes, where it was hit by a car carrying five people, said state Trooper Anthony Heim.

Heim said it was amazing that no one was injured, but the crash snarled traffic for about 45 minutes.

Heim said he decided not to charge the driver of the Toyota van, Junyi Zhou, 42, of Fresh Meadows, N.Y.

The crash was reported at 4:50 p.m.

SANFORD

Police search for suspect in attempted abduction

Police have released a composite sketch of a suspect in Friday night’s apparent attempted abduction of an 18-year-old woman. Police also have distributed a flier seeking information.

Police Chief Thomas Connolly said the woman, who lives in Sanford, was walking on Eastern Avenue near Brooks Street shortly before 9 p.m. when a man attempted to force her into a maroon Kia Soul. The woman wrestled with the man before freeing herself, and the man took off in his vehicle, Connolly said.

The woman received minor injuries and reported the incident to police as soon as she found a phone, Connolly said. She told police the man was between 5 feet 8 inches and 5 feet 10 inches tall.

“I’m fairly confident we’re going to close this soon,” Connolly said. “This is a top-priority case. Whenever someone tries to snatch a woman off the street that’s very serious.”

Police are looking for a witness to the alleged abduction attempt.

PENOBSCOT

Sanctuary offers refuge to escaped Guinea Hog

A Guinea Hog that escaped slaughter and is on the lam in the woods of northern Maine is being offered sanctuary — if it can be found.

Peace Ridge Sanctuary on Thursday offered to let the escapee live out its remaining days at the Penobcot facility that’s home to more than 100 animals.

The sanctuary issued a statement saying the pigs are intelligent and social creatures and that this one “deserves to be kept safe from impending harm.”

The 140-pound black Guinea Hog was headed to the butcher in the town of Woodland when it escaped several weeks ago. The Bangor Daily News first reported the hog’s escape, proclaiming that “This is one northern Maine piggy who most definitely did not want to go to market.”

BANGOR

Former Chelsea official faces another trial next month

A former town official from Chelsea who was convicted last week of filing false income tax returns and making false statements to get federal workers’ compensation faces another trial next month.

U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock on Wednesday set a Sept. 4 trial date for Carole Swan on extortion charges. The Kennebec Journal reports the judge rejected a request to postpone the trial until October.

Swan is charged with extorting money from a man who had plowing and salting contracts with Chelsea.

Prosecutors in her previous trial said she misstated income she received through Marshall Swan Construction, a company Swan owns with her estranged husband, and did not properly report income she received through a harness racing business managed by her brother in Ohio.

She was acquitted of three fraud charges.

WASHINGTON

Grant will help develop wave, wind power system

The University of Maine, Maine Maritime Academy and two partner organizations are sharing a federal grant to develop a system that could help capture renewable energy from the motion of ocean waves and offshore winds.

U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King announced the nearly $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

The senators said the funding would help create a multidirectional wind-wave generating system. Researchers hope the system, known as W2, will simulate wave and wind conditions found in ocean environments like the Gulf of Maine.

Sandia National Laboratories and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory will work with the University of Maine and Maine Maritime Academy to develop the system that could help guide construction of future offshore renewable energy devices.

ROCKLAND

LePage plans to send gifts of lobster to other governors

Gov. Paul LePage said Thursday that he will soon send baskets of lobster products to all 49 other governors in an effort to spread the word about Maine’s signature seafood.

LePage made his announcement at the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland. During his appearance there, he and Department of Marine Resources Commissioner Patrick Keliher touted a new law that will pump more money into marketing Maine lobster.

DMR spokesman Jeff Nichols said the baskets will likely include products made with lobster but probably won’t include a live lobster.

“It’s a chance for him to reach out to colleagues around the country and share with them the true flavor of Maine,” Nichols said.

While LePage was at the festival, Kerry Altiero, owner of Rockland’s Cafe Miranda and Maine’s 2012 Lobster Chef of the Year, presented him a lobster dish he called “Lobster a la LePage,” made out of lobster meat tossed with pineapple, cilantro, scallions, lime juice, cumin seed, black sesame seed, poblanos and jalapenos with olive oil served atop tortilla chips with salsa on the side.

The Maine Lobster Festival is now in its 66th year and draws about 100,000 people annually. It continues through Sunday.

MONMOUTH

Trooper: Maine-made ballistic material saved life

An Indiana state trooper thanked workers in Maine for saving his life.

Trooper Jarrod Lents was shot six times June 17 in a shootout in which he killed a man robbing a southwestern Indiana gun shop, but his ballistic vest stopped the bullets.

The Kennebec Journal reports that Lents visited the Maine company that makes the material used in the vests on Wednesday to say thank you. Speaking at Tex Tech Industries in Monmouth, Lents said the impact of the bullets felt like a sledgehammer, and he assumed he was dead. One bullet struck his arm but was stopped from doing more damage by the vest.

Company officials say Lents is the 14th person known to be saved by material made at Tex Tech.

HEBRON

New name but same wacky events at Redneck ‘Blank’

The event formerly known as the Redneck Olympics is under way in Hebron.

After being forced to change its name, the event now known as the Redneck “Blank” runs through the weekend with unorthodox events like lawn mower races, mud runs and burnouts.

The event will feature a pig roast, beer tent and live music, including nine bands.

One of the highlights on Friday will be a demolition derby. The Sun Journal newspaper says other events include bobbing for pigs’ feet, toilet seat horseshoes and a greased watermelon relay race.

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